The Execution of Elsa
by grrlgeek72
Summary: What if? Alternate ending to the movie suggested by a user post on tumblr: What if the people of Arendelle didn't forgive Elsa for her winter and condemned her to execution for her crime? Chapter 2-4 are a much happier ending than Chapter 1. I got bailed out by a wonderful suggestion.
1. Walking up Calvary's Hill

**A user,** ** **mysharona1987,** posted this prompt on tumblr and I had to run with it:**

 **Realistic fairy tale endings**

\- After Elsa nearly killed them all because she couldn't control her powers, the people of Arendelle conclude she is too reckless and dangerous to have as ruler and send her to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette-style.

Major character death, obviously. Bring your hankies.

* * *

"Elsa, NO, you can't DO this! I just got you back, I can't watch them ... execute you!" Anna was sobbing, her words choked out through her tears.

Her sister sat in the window bay of her room. When the Council had (timorously) told her that the people demanded her execution for the crimes she had committed against the kingdom on her Coronation Day, she had meekly submitted to their judgement and gave her solemn oath that she would neither resist nor run away from her fate.

So instead of being imprisoned in her own dungeons, she was allowed to spend her last days in comfort in her room. With her sister, the soon-to-be Queen Anna of Arendelle.

Elsa didn't want to die, but she felt that her crimes were so heinous that it was justice that she pay for them with her life.

"Anna, I don't want to leave you, but, it is all that I deserve. There were people that died from the cold, and the kingdom will come close to starvation this winter because of the damage my powers caused the crops. I must pay for those crimes." She hung her head, not wanting Anna to see her tears. "I'm sorry that I am leaving you to handle the shambles I created."

Elsa's room was on the side of the castle facing the fjord, not the courtyard, so they could not hear the hammers and saws as the workmen built the guillotine. But she knew it was happening.

Anna broke into even louder sobs and wailed, "But I don't want to be the Queen! I want my sister to be Queen and I can be her right hand and we can fix this together!"

Elsa went over to the bed, sat down next to Anna and took her into her arms. "I am so, so sorry, Anna. If only Papa had let us be together, if only I had the courage to reach out to you after we lost them, maybe none of this would have happened. But the past is in the past and there is no other way to atone for the evil I brought down on Arendelle."

The two sisters stayed in their embrace for hours, tears flowing freely as they shared the love they felt for each other; the love that had been stolen from them by fate for thirteen years. But there would be no happy ending to this tale, only Elsa's death, and a sister bereft of her best friend forever.

A knock on the door startled Anna, but Elsa seemed to expect it. She kissed Anna tenderly on the forehead, then stood and said, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal the Bishop and the Baron who was the head of the Royal Council. The Bishop said, "You summoned us?" He used no honorifics and his voice was strained. He did not agree with the decision to execute the Queen, but had no choice.

"Yes. I called you here to witness my abdication," Elsa said in a calm voice.

Anna's head shot up in astonishment and it was clear that the Bishop and the Baron were equally caught off guard.

"Why?" snarled the Baron. He had lost family to the cold, and his farms were in ruins. Hatred was the only emotion he felt toward Elsa.

She looked at him cooly and replied, "Because the history of Arendelle should not be marred by a regicide. I accept the judgement of the people that I have committed a crime that deserves death. By abdicating in favor of the Princess Anna, I will die as a common criminal, and Arendelle's conscience will be free from future doubts concerning my execution."

Elsa walked over to her dresser, and got a sheet of paper and something else from the top drawer. She brought the paper to the Bishop. "Here is my decree of abdication. If you both sign and witness it, the throne passes to my sister."

While the Bishop and the Baron read and witnessed the document, Elsa went back to sit next to Anna, who was still in stunned silence over this development.

The Bishop looked at the two sisters and said, "Very well. It is done." He addressed Anna and said, "Your Majesty, we will discuss your coronation after her exec ... after." He bowed, and the two men left the room, closing the door behind them.

Elsa put her arms around Anna, who had begun to cry again once the men left. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay, Anna."

"Elsa, I can't handle this, I can't!" Anna wailed.

Her sister tried to reassure her. "I know this is hard; so hard. But you are strong, Anna, and you will make a wonderful Queen. You'll fix the mess I'm leaving you, and Arendelle will grow and prosper under Good Queen Anna. I pass this crown to you with the confidence that you will wear it with honor and grace."

Elsa held out her hand, her golden tiara lay in her palm. She mused that she was glad that they had been able to return to her Ice Palace before the turmoil had arisen that resulted in her condemnation. They had found Marshmallow, and he had returned her crown to her.

"No, I don't want it. I won't take it!"

"Yes, you will. Because it is your duty, Anna. And you will do your duty to the kingdom, just like I will do mine."

Anna flung herself into Elsa's arms again, and they spent Elsa's last hours on earth trying to make up for thirteen years of isolation.

Shortly after the dawn, there was another knock on the door, and they heard Kai's voice, strained and awkward. "Milady? It's ... time. They are calling for you to present yourself."

"Tell them I will dress and be ready in a few minutes, Kai," Elsa replied.

She rose and pulled Anna to her feet. "Help me dress, Anna?"

It didn't take long for her to dress in a plain but elegant dress in dark gray with purple rosemaling. Anna helped her brush and plait her hair and put it up in a bun, so her neck was bare.

Gerda had brought a dress for Anna as well - her mourning clothes; the ones she had worn for her parents' memorial service. Anna would mourn Elsa, even if no one else did.

Finished, they looked at each other, then embraced tightly, neither of them wanting to let go.

"Come, Anna. It's time." Elsa finally pulled away, then took Anna's hand and walked to the door.

Hand in hand they walked to the main door of the castle, accompanied by two Arendelle guards. The halls were lined with servants and staff, who bowed or curtsied as the sisters passed them.

At the courtyard door, the last two servants were Kai and Gerda. It was clear that Gerda had been weeping, although no tears were on her face now. Kai had the stoic look of a man pushed to his limits. They both bowed to Elsa.

"Thank you for everything, Kai, Gerda. For years you served me, and my gratitude for your kindness knows no bounds." Elsa looked at Anna, then continued, "I know you will take care of my sister for me."

Anna was fighting back her tears, her face twisted in anguish as she realized this was the end, Elsa was really going through with this abomination.

"Elsa ..."

Her sister wrapped her in one last hug and whispered into her ear, "I love you, Anna. I have always loved you, and I will carry that love into eternity." Elsa kissed Anna, then released her and turned to go out into the courtyard.

Kai said to Anna, "Your Majesty?" and gestured at the door.

"No. No! I will not go out there and witness this horror. How can you even suggest that? No." and Anna turned away from the door and slumped to the floor, her back against the wall. She wrapped her arms around her knees and put her head down to begin sobbing again.

She could still hear, though. The crowd noise had increased when Elsa had stepped out into the courtyard. A minute or so passed, long enough for Elsa to cross the courtyard to the steps of the guillotine and mount them. The crowd fell silent. Anna braced herself and couldn't breathe. The only sound was the pounding of her own heart ... then she heard "swish ... Thunk!" and the mob cheering wildly. She sobbed and put her head down and squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately not to visualize the executioner reaching down, grabbing Elsa's hair and holding her head up in a macabre display for the crowd.

Elsa was dead, her sister was dead.

"The Queen is dead; long live the Queen ..." Anna whispered to herself. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood. She was the Queen, and her duty to Arendelle was calling to her.


	2. A Sister's Love

**Author's note:** Okay, **THAT** was … intense. As so many, many people have told me, here and on tumblr.

Now, one of my tumblr buddies, namely **olofahere dot tumblr dot com** , wrote an ending to this story that was SO GOOD that I cringed and wailed and gnashed my teeth in utter jealousy because I didn't think of it! And she has given her kind permission for me to post it as chapter 2 here. (She goes by the pen name 'Olofa' here on fanfiction dot net, go read her stories they are GREAT!)

So I present for your reading pleasure, a much happier ending to "The Execution of Elsa", by olofa with very minor tweaks by me.

* * *

"Very well. It is done," said the Bishop. "Your Majesty, we will discuss your coronation after the exec… after."

"No," said Anna softly.

"I understand this is difficult, Your Maj - "

Anna shook her head. "I said no. No!"

The Bishop tried to comfort the distraught woman and said, "I'm very sorry," and gently laid a hand on Anna's shoulder, which she brutally pushed away.

"NO! Can't you hear me? NO!"

With Elsa's letter of abdication crumpled in one of her fists, Anna grabbed the tiara and brandished it at the two men. "This - this says I'm the queen. All right, I'm the queen. I forbid this execution."

She didn't have the steely command that Elsa had. What she had was the desperate rage of a cornered animal. "I'm not kidding!" She jammed the tiara into her hair. "My first act as Queen is to pardon Elsa."

Elsa took her arm. "Anna, you can't. I have to pay for what I've done."

The Baron growled, "The people will not stand for it."

"The people can go jump off a pier!" Anna shouted. "A short pier into a deep fjord! Since when does justice in Arendelle dance to the howls of a mob drunk on blood lust?" She glowered at them, daring them to keep arguing. "Never, and we're not going to start now!"

Anna took Elsa's hand in her own and continued, "All right, you know what? She's not pardoned. She's - I commute her sentence to life imprisonment. To be served at my side where I can keep an eye on her martyr complex. Now go tell everyone the execution's off. Go! And tell them to tear down that abomination they built! Or I'll start using it on people who annoy me!"

The two men fled, leaving Anna to deal with Elsa. "And as for you - "

"Anna, don't you see? The deaths, the destruction. I have to pay my debt."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"Lives were lost. Crops were destroyed. You think I'm letting you run away from that? Letting you give up and run away into oblivion instead of accepting and dealing with what you've done?"

Anna's rage fell away as she took both of Elsa's hands in her own, desperate to convince Elsa to live.

"I need you, Elsa. I need your help. To save lives, to bring prosperity back. Killing you doesn't fix anything. It just takes the death toll and makes it one higher. That's not paying a debt, that's making it worse. When - WHEN you have saved more lives than were lost, when Arendelle is more prosperous than it was before your… winter, then we can talk about your guilt. Not before. That's your duty to your people. That's MY duty to MY people."

"Anna, how can you do this?"

"Oh, Elsa," Anna took Elsa's face in her hands. "You think after I stopped Hans' sword I'd let anyone else come at you with a blade, especially a headsman's axe? Hell, if someone comes at you with a hatpin I'll be there to stop 'em. I love you, and I will keep saving your life until that sinks in."

"Anna, you can't do this. I don't deserve it." Elsa tried to pull away, her shame clear on her face.

"And I deserve to lose you again? Hell, no. And you do deserve it. You deserve everything good, you deserve to be happy." Anna stepped back and wagged a finger at her sister, tears running down her cheeks. "But if you think you don't deserve it, then you'd better get to work and earn it. Make me proud. Make yourself proud. I love you, and I believe in you. Enough for both of us."

The two sisters stood silent for a moment as Elsa struggled to accept what she was hearing. Struggled to accept that there was a better way to prove she wasn't a monster than walking up the steps of a guillotine. That life was better than death. She hung her head and whispered, "I'll try, Anna."

Anna swept Elsa into a hug that lifted her off her feet. "You'll do more than try, sister of mine. You'll succeed. WE'LL succeed. Now, let's go give that crowd out there a better show than the one they were expecting!"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

First, whew, that's a MUCH better ending.

BTW, there was no beta work done on either chapter - any and all mistakes are totally my fault.

 _And the story is complete, there will be no more updates. If I attempted to take either ending forward, it would be 20,000 words to finish. Anna would need to reconnect with Kristoff for one thing._

 _So I'll just leave this here and go work on "Dogs of War". NOT!  
_

I should stop making bold statements like that. This story won't let me go. More chapters coming, as Anna explains things to the kingdom and Elsa works on her penance for screwing things up so badly.

Oh, and there's no taking back an abdication - Anna is now the Queen and she will stay the Queen and Elsa is totally okay with that.


	3. Pay Heed to Queen Anna

**Okay, so my muse is insisting that I finish this story. The 'happy ending' version where Olofa saved me from my own sense of tragedy. Don't get me wrong, I felt good about chapter 1 - it was good storytelling, even if so very sad. But I love Elsa, and hated leaving her in that state and Anna to grieve.**

 **So here's another chapter, plus there will be at least one more.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – All Pay Heed to Queen Anna  
**

 _Passion is the mob of the man, that commits a riot upon his reason.  
 **\- William Penn**_

When the crowd in the courtyard saw who was with Anna, they howled in rage. A few rocks were thrown, but fell short of coming close to the two sisters. Elsa cringed away from the screams of "Witch!", "Monster!", "Sorceress!" and tried to pull back into the castle. Anna felt the temperature drop and saw ice forming on the floor of the balcony, sure signs that Elsa was terrified.

Anna wouldn't let go of Elsa's hand, however, and kept her at her side, wrapping an arm around Elsa's waist and whispering into her ear, "Shh, it's going to be okay, Elsa, I've got you." She could feel Elsa's frightened trembling, but also felt her shaky nod as she clung to her sister. It got warmer and Anna was pleased to see the ice disappear. Love will thaw, indeed.

The new Queen turned to the Royal Guards flanking them and said, "Shut that crowd up, gentlemen! I have something to say to them, and I want to make sure they pay attention!"

The two Guards saluted, then fired their muskets into the air, being sure to aim to the side so the bullets fell harmlessly into the fjord. The loud report startled the crowd into silence, which was what Anna had hoped to accomplish.

She nodded to Kai, who had come out onto the balcony with them. He stepped forward and announced into the silence, "All pay heed to Queen Anna of Arendelle!"

There were murmurs at this, since apparently the Bishop and the Baron's explanation of Elsa's abdication hadn't spread to the entire crowd. The announcement stopped any further screaming of curses at the two women, however, as the mob's curiosity overcame its anger, at least for the moment.

Anna took Kai's place at the rail of the balcony and looked over the crowd. She was interested to see that the enraged faces were a minority – apparently the howls for Elsa's head were loud enough to seem compelling, but the more reasonable majority had been overshadowed. Anna nodded in grim satisfaction; maybe this would be easier than she thought.

"People of Arendelle," she began. "I am your new Queen! A short while ago, my sister Elsa prepared to go to her death as her atonement for creating Winter in July."

Someone shouted, "A good idea!" There were murmurs of agreement in the crowd.

Anna glared down and spit out, "A profoundly STUPID idea! It was an ACCIDENT, she didn't mean it, she didn't even KNOW she had frozen Arendelle until I found her on the North Mountain and told her. And when I told her she was HORRIFIED!"

"So what? She froze the kingdom!"

"And then she unfroze it, once she learned how!" Anna picked out the man who had shouted and pointed at him. "YOU! Are you saying you never, ever, ONCE in your life screwed up something by accident?" She released her hold on Elsa to lean on the balcony railing. "Well? ANSWER ME!"

The man had shrunk back and looked embarrassed and managed to mumble, "Well, no, I've made mistakes … "

"Louder, man, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Anna shouted. There was a smattering of laughter at Anna's jibe at the heckler. She scanned the crowd and said, "What about the rest of you? Is there ANYONE here who can raise their hand and HONESTLY SWEAR that they never made a mistake, a bad mistake, one that HURT someone else?"

No hands were raised. There was a lot of foot shuffling and muttering now. A lot of chagrined and thoughtful expressions on many of the faces. Anna knew she had broken through the anger.

"Let me tell you about MY mistakes," she said. She stood straight and took Elsa's hand again. "I was the one who pushed Elsa into her panic at the Coronation Ball. I was so blind and selfish that I thought she was ignoring me because she hated me! I. WAS. WRONG. And because of that, she ran away and froze the kingdom! So I'M the one who caused the Winter!"

At this, Elsa whispered, "No, Anna, you didn't know, it was my fault – "

"Shush, you! Don't interrupt the Queen!" Anna smiled at Elsa to quell her mutterings.

Returning to the crowd, who had fallen into a thoughtful silence, Anna went on, "And then when I found Elsa and told her what had happened and then stupidly pushed too hard again and she froze my heart, I thought the only way to be saved was by True Love's Kiss. So I came back to find the man I thought loved me – Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

The silence in the courtyard was profound – many people in Arendelle hadn't heard the whole story of what had happened to Anna on North Mountain and afterwards. She had their full attention now.

"But I was wrong again! The bastard didn't love me! He was trying to steal the throne of Arendelle! He left me to die, lied abut Elsa, and was going to murder her and take her crown. THAT'S who could have been your ruler. A murderer." She looked at the crowd and continued, "So that was three huge mistakes I made, and they almost cost me my life and Elsa's life and left this kingdom in the hands of a selfish sociopath." She hung her head, choking back sudden tears as she remembered her despair in the library.

Elsa squeezed her hand and stepped forward. "But my sister redeemed herself, redeemed me, from her mistakes, and my mistakes, and my father's mistakes!"

The crowd stirred again as Elsa spoke, mutters rising, but she pushed on as Anna looked at her in surprise.

"My sister, who had every reason to think I hated her, when she saw Prince Hans about to kill me turned and ran to put herself between me and that sword and with her last breath sacrificed herself to save the sister she still loved." Tears flowed freely down Elsa's cheeks, and she squeezed Anna's hand.

Elsa voice dropped almost to a whisper, but the crowd was holding its breath now and could still hear her as she said, "And by that sacrifice, she saved us all. And she showed me how to fix what I had done, she showed me that love was the most powerful force in this world or any other, and showed me how to bring back summer."

"Oh, Elsa ..." Anna was crying, too, but she pulled Elsa into a hug.

The crowd seemed to be digesting this, but then an angry voice yelled, "But people still died!"

Anna felt the shudder go through Elsa's body and thought she would withdraw back into the guilt and shame that had let her agree to her own beheading. But Elsa didn't. She released her hold on Anna, stood straight and tall and stepped forward until she was pressed against the railing.

"Yes, people died. Because of my winter. A winter I hadn't intended to create, but accept full responsibility for. Deaths that cut me to my very soul, because I had taken an oath to 'protect and defend' my kingdom and my people." Her voice was strong, with only the smallest quaver. "And I had failed that oath. I had failed all of you." She hung her head for a moment, then looked up again. "And that failure was why I agreed when the Council came to me and told me that I had been condemned to death for 'treason against Arendelle'. And why I abdicated the throne to my sister, so that I would die as a common criminal and the history of Arendelle would not be blemished by the killing of a reigning monarch."

This hit home with the crowd – history had not been kind to those who murdered royalty, unless that royalty were cruel tyrants. A situation that most certainly did not describe the royal family that had ruled Arendelle for centuries. Elsa's father and grandmother had been beloved rulers in the memory of many of those now living, and reclusive Elsa herself had been well thought of until her Winter in July had caused so much havoc.

There were still skeptics, of course. "How selfless of you, Your Majesty!" called out a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Not selfless. I don't want to die any more than any person wants to die before their time. But it was my duty to Arendelle. If Anna had not intervened, I would have walked up those steps – " and she gestured at the guillotine still standing in the center of the courtyard, "and I would have knelt to lay my head on the block and … and –"

But her voice faltered and Elsa's knees buckled as a sudden vision of what she had been prepared to do flashed through her mind and she almost fainted.

Anna grabbed her and held her and addressed the crowd as Elsa began to sob into her shoulder.

"Yes, that. THAT is what she would have done, because she felt it was her duty." Her glare could have frozen the fjord again. "Duty to the kingdom. To you. And you all would have howled in glee as the executioner held up her head for you, wouldn't you? WOULDN'T YOU?" She screamed her fury at what could have been. Gods, what if she had been too shaken to think of ordering the execution stopped? To realize that she had the **power** to order the execution stopped? Anna's gorge choked her as her mind's eye showed her what might have been.

The sheer raw emotion on display by the two women affected the crowd in a visceral way. There had only been a small loud minority actually calling for Elsa's death. Unfortunately their voices had drowned out more reasonable voices and cowed the Royal Council into going along with it. Now reason and empathy were reasserting themselves. Empathy and maybe a little guilt at allowing anger and blood lust to overcome their sense of fairness and justice. The people of Arendelle weren't feeling very good about themselves right at that moment.

Anna took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She needed to be reasonable now, she was the Queen, not just a woman trying to protect her sister from an ugly death. Again. Anna was trying to figure out what it was about her and Elsa and sharp things. Time for introspection later, she needed to bring this to a close.

"So she abdicated, and was ready to submit to that – " Anna waved at the guillotine and stopped. "Wait, I thought I ordered that abomination to be torn down before I was tempted to use it on annoying people? Why is it still there? Where is the Bishop?"

He stepped forward to the fringe of the crowd. "My apologies, Your Majesty. We hadn't time to get to it before you came out to speak."

Anna growled, "Okay. But it better be gone before nightfall!"

Elsa had managed to regain her composure and had wiped her cheeks free of tears and had to suppress a small smile at Anna's forcefulness. She, at least, had never underestimated Anna's intellect or abilities, and had never thought of her as just the spare. Her pride in her baby sister was growing by the moment.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah, so she abdicated and my first act as Queen was to commute her sentence to life imprisonment. At my side, where she is going to be working as hard as anyone else in this kingdom, no, harder, to FIX this!" Anna took Elsa's hand again and said, "Any questions about that?"

Someone shouted out, "How can you be the Queen? You're not old enough!"

That was a problem that Anna hadn't thought of. The reason Elsa's coronation was held this month was because she had come of age – 21. Anna was only 18. Now what? Did that mean she couldn't keep Elsa from being executed? Momentarily taken aback, Anna was trying to figure out what to say when the Bishop spoke up again.

"If I may, Your Majesty?" Was there the slightest emphasis on the title? "While it is true that under normal circumstances, the age of 21 must be attained for the monarch regnant to acquire full, unencumbered sovereignty, there are exceptions. And this is one of them."

"Do enlighten us, Your Grace." Anna kept a straight face, hoping no one would realize how ignorant she was of the actual law concerning the monarchy.

"The ancient law of Arendelle allows for an underage heir to take the throne without a regency when two conditions hold: first, that there is no other heir in the line of succession who is of age, and second, that the kingdom is in a state of emergency. It is clear that both conditions obtain now, and thus, you are the Queen Regnant of Arendelle and entitled to exercise all the power of that office."

The Bishop bowed and finished by saying, "Your Majesty," again.

Elsa whispered in her ear, "Don't feel bad, I didn't know that either."

Anna elbowed her slightly in the ribs and tried not to giggle at the thought that her amazing, scholarly, bookworm sister had missed something like that in all the years she had spent hiding in the library. "Shush, you."

Addressing the Bishop, Anna said solemnly, "Thank you for that clarification, Your Grace." She looked at the crowd and asked, "Any other questions?"

There weren't any, so Anna decided it was time to end this.

"Very well. Here's what's going to happen next: The Royal Council and I will meet tomorrow to settle the details, but this is what we're all going to do, together!"

"First, we need a detailed inventory of the current stocks of food and the state of all the crops in the ground. It may be that they weren't as damaged by the snow and ice as we thought, and can recover somewhat."

"Second, I would ask that the Fisherman's Guild and the Hunter's Guild put together a plan to increase their activities to produce additional food."

"Third, based on those two things, we will set up a rationing plan that apportions food to all citizens of Arendelle, equally, no matter their economic status. Rich or poor, we will all eat the same. ALL of us, me and Elsa included. The only exceptions to this will be a priority for the children, the elderly, and the sick." There were some mutterings at this pronouncement, but the crowd actually shushed those who were complaining.

"Lastly, the Crown of Arendelle will pay an indemnity to the families of those lost to the Winter. It will not in any way fill the void left by the deaths of their loved ones, but it will show that We accept the responsibility for those deaths. The indemnities will come from Our personal account, not the general account of the Arendelle treasury." It was clear from the expressions on their faces that Elsa and Anna felt true sorrow for the families. She added, "We lost our parents and know the pain and empty hollowness that sort of loss can leave behind."

Anna let the silence linger for a moment to allow the people to absorb what she had said. There were nods and some conversations, but it was clear that the mood of the crowd had changed from anger to something more open to reason.

"So, thank you, and please, go back to your homes and families and start making your own plans to work out of this situation and back to normal," Anna declared. "You are dismissed."

Elsa and Anna watched the crowd begin to drift out the castle gates and back to the town. When the courtyard was empty except for the Royal Guards and the castle staff, she took Elsa by the arm and went back into the castle. It was time for dinner.

She turned to Kai and said, "Kai, tell Cook we'd like dinner in an hour, in the small family dining room. Then send notices to the Royal Council that we'll be meeting tomorrow at 1, right after lunch. And finally, TEAR THAT FUCKING GUILLOTINE DOWN!"

Elsa muttered, "Anna, language!" She was blushing.

"Shush you. Don't interrupt the Queen!" Anna smirked as she poked her sister in the ribs again. "Or you won't get any supper, you stinker!"

* * *

 **Whew. One more chapter to go. Tomorrow, probably. Thanks for reading. Reviews are love.**


	4. Elsa's Redemption

**Chapter 4 – Elsa's Redemption**

 _"Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands."_  
― **bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions**

Elsa pushed her sweat-soaked bangs off her forehead and resumed hoeing the weeds out from between the rows of potatoes. Her brown sweat soaked bangs. She was in disguise.

It had been a month since her abdication. For two weeks she had worked with Anna and the Council and did everything she could to help improve the plans to fix the damage she had caused. But she grew increasingly restless and wanted to do more, to go out into the kingdom and actually DO something.

She and Anna had visited every family that had lost a loved one. There hadn't been many, but each one twisted Elsa's gut with guilt. She forced herself to face them, to apologize in person for the wrong she had done to them. She didn't flinch, made no excuses. Just begged their humble pardon, knowing there was no restitution for a life lost.

Most accepted her apology. There were only a scant few too far gone in pain and grief to forgive her. Elsa accepted that, too. The forgiveness she was given was a grace and a blessing. She held no ill feelings for those who couldn't find it in themselves to grant it. They owed her nothing.

But once that duty was complete, she needed to do more, to feel that she was actually accomplishing something.

Anna had forbidden it when she first approached her with the idea. "No! I don't want anyone getting any more stupid ideas about beheadings! Most people have regained their common sense, but it only takes one who hasn't! NO!"

Elsa still couldn't get the idea out of her head, even though she knew Anna was right. A few days later she had approached Gerda for help in disguising herself so she could go out and join the crews working to help the crops recover from the freeze. Gerda was skeptical, but agreed. And promised not to tell Anna.

The first thing Gerda did was find a hair rinse that Elsa could use in the morning to color her hair, which was the most recognizable thing about her, after all. It also had to wash out in the evening, or Anna would wonder what was going on.

The first time Gerda had helped Elsa color her hair, she put it up in a prim bun, too, so it would fit under a cap like many women wore. But when she stepped back to check her work, she gasped.

"What is it, Gerda? What's wrong?" Elsa asked. She was concerned to see tears welling in her maidservant's eyes.

"Oh, milady!" Gerda waved at Elsa to turn around and look in her mirror.

It was Elsa's turned to gasp. She reached out with a shaking hand to touch her own image in the mirror and whispered, "Mama … "

With brown hair up in a bun, Elsa was the very picture of her mother, something she hadn't ever realized before. She knew, intellectually, that there was a strong resemblance, she had been told that often enough. But being told and seeing her mother in the mirror were two different things. "Oh, gods … "

It made her more determined than ever to work out her penance, so that she could feel she had earned her mother's love again.

So here she was, two weeks into her assignment as a field worker. Dressed in a plain frock, Elsa had walked out of the castle one morning with some of the servants as they went out to shop and do errands in the city. The guards didn't even blink. She knew where the Farmer's Guild had set up places where people could volunteer to work in the fields and was accepted and sent out to the farms with a group of other city people.

It was hard work, hoeing and digging and weeding. She developed blisters the first day, of course, and she still had bandages wrapped around her palms to keep them from bleeding. Growing up a pampered royal left her hands soft and vulnerable. She didn't care – it was just one more punishment she accepted.

A loud whistle and a shout from the foreman of "Lunch break! Come and get your portion!"

The workers walked out to the edge of the field and lined up at a wagon where the food and mugs of water were being passed out. Elsa took her share and went to sit with a group of other women to eat. After two weeks everyone knew each other -or thought they did - and chatted amiably as they enjoyed lunch, meager though it was.

"So, Elise, any good gossip today?"

Elsa had claimed to be a maidservant from the castle named Elise who had been given permission to work in the fields. It was easy to share stories of the innocent day to day goings on in the castle with the others and some of them were truly funny.

"Nothing much this week, I'm afraid. The Queen is out of town checking on the more remote towns and villages, so … " Elsa shrugged.

"Well, I've heard that – " one of the other women started to tell a scurrilous and certainly untrue story about the goings on in the castle, and 'Elise' laughed with the others. A secondary benefit to her expedition into the fields was that Elsa was picking up a rather interesting perspective of how the people of Arendelle saw their rulers.

"Back to work, everyone, back to work!" The foreman's shout had everyone quickly finishing their meal and drinking down their water and returning to their hoes and rakes.

That evening Anna returned from her out of town trip and came looking for Elsa. She found her in the library, sound asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Hey, stinker! Isn't this a little early for you?" Anna plopped herself down next to Elsa and shook her awake.

Fortunately Elsa's hands were out of sight under a blanket. It was the one thing she had to be careful to conceal from Anna, or her ruse would be exposed. And wearing gloves was right out. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, yawned and said, "Oh, hi. You know I don't sleep well when you're gone, Anna. I guess it just caught up to me." A fib, but needs must. "How was your trip? Is everything going well?"

Anna pulled off the blanket, intending to take Elsa's hand. She stopped when she saw the blisters. "Wait, what's wrong with your hands? Elsa?"

Elsa couldn't lie to her sister, so she admitted what she had been doing for the past two weeks.

Anna took Elsa's hands to look at them more closely. "Oh, Elsa, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I needed to do more than just sit in meetings and push paper around," mumbled Elsa.

"I told you not to!"

"You told me it was dangerous, but I've been going in disguise and no one knows it's me!" Elsa retorted. "It's perfectly safe, Anna. I'm just another ordinary person in the fields!"

Anna looked at her sister sadly. "You're going to keep doing this, aren't you?"

"Yes." Elsa couldn't look at her sister. "I need to, Anna. Please. Don't be angry with me."

"Oh, Elsa, how can I be angry with you? Just … be careful. Be safe. I can't lose you again." Anna stood and pulled her sister to her feet, being careful to take her by the wrist. "Now, come on, let's go to bed. And I'm going to wash and bandage those hands for you, I can tell you haven't been doing a good job of that."

So Elsa had gone back to the fields, without the need to avoid Anna in the mornings and evenings. She still went in disguise, of course.

It was late afternoon several weeks later. Elsa was tired, her back and hands hurt, and she was ready for the foreman to tell them the day's work was finished. She looked around and didn't see anyone near her, so she took a chance. She made a little of her magic, just enough to soothe her painful blisters. The tiniest bit of frost coated the bandages wrapped around her palms and she felt the soothing relief from the pain.

She hadn't been careful enough, as it turned out. She suddenly found herself on the ground, struck down by a hard blow from behind her. Elsa landed flat on her face and had the wind knocked out of her. She struggled to look up and see what had happened and just managed to roll out of the way of a killing blow from a shovel wielded by a man red-faced with rage.

"Die, you bitch!" and he raised the shovel for another attempt.

By this time the foreman had come running up and wrenched the shovel out of the man's hands. "Lars, what do you think you're doing?" he roared.

The rest of the workers came up to see what was going on. Elsa was still on the ground, still dizzy from the blow. She struggled to her knees, then managed to stand on shaky legs.

Lars was trying to take the shovel back from the foreman and screaming, "It's her, it's the witch who killed my mother! I've been watching her for weeks, and I saw her make her magic ice and now I'm going to kill her!"

Elsa shrank into herself in dismay. She remembered Lars now – he was one of those who had refused to forgive her when she and Anna had come to his home to apologize.

The Foreman managed to pull the shovel away from Lars, then pushed him to the ground. He scowled at Elsa and said, "Is what he says true?"

She could only nod. The crowd surrounding the three of them gasped and a few stepped back and made the gesture used to ward off magic.

Lars shouted, "See? See? What evil is she up to?"

One of the women Elsa usually ate lunch with stepped forward and took Elsa's hand and held it out for the group to see the bandages. "The only evil she's up to, you fool, is working harder than anyone else in this group and literally tearing up her hands doing it." She glared at the circle of faces, most of whom nodded. 'Elise' had been popular with these people, and they had all seen how hard she worked.

"So what?" snarled Lars. He stood and brushed off his backside and would have charged Elsa again if the Foreman hadn't stepped between them and pushed Lars back.

"No killing here today, Lars, not while I'm in charge."

"But she killed my mother! She owes me a life!" Lars struggled to get to Elsa, but the Foreman was stronger.

"He's right." Elsa's voice was so soft as to be almost unheard, but the Foreman heard her.

"What?"

She spoke loud enough for Lars and the entire group to hear this time. "He's right, I owe him a life. But it's not a debt I can pay, because nothing I do or say, not even giving my own life, will bring your mother back, Lars."

Elsa took a step forward and fell to her knees, her hands held out to her sides, where the bloody bandages were clearly visible. "I came to your home and apologized once, and I offer you my most profound remorse again, Lars. I will not ask your forgiveness, not because I don't wish for it, but because you owe me nothing, certainly not forgiveness if it is not in your heart to give. I owe you a life, and there is no way that I can pay that debt."

The sight of Elsa on her knees drained most of the anger from Lars and he stepped back. "Get up, woman, you're the Queen," he grunted.

"No, I'm not. I'm just a woman, trying to fix the damage I caused, trying to make up in some small way for the pain I brought to you and the rest of the kingdom."

Lars looked around and saw that the rest of the group were nodding at what she was saying. For the first time since his mother had died, he had the thought that maybe Elsa wasn't evil. Maybe it was time he mourned his mother without blaming Elsa for anything more than –

"Well?" asked the Foreman.

"Well, what?"

"Are you going to try to kill her again?"

Lars was silent for a moment, looking down at the woman he would have killed just five minutes ago. "No. No, she's right, killing her won't bring my Ma back. And blood on my hands would make a poor memorial to her."

He spat on the ground in front of Elsa. "But I still can't forgive her." And he turned and stalked away.

The tension left with Lars, and the Foreman held out his hand to help Elsa stand up. He looked up at the sky and said, "Day's work is over. Let's load the tools in the wagon and go home." He looked at Elsa and added, "Will you be back tomorrow?"

The question startled her. She looked at everyone, then into the Foreman's eyes and replied, "Will you let me?"

"What do you all say?" he asked the group.

"Yes." "Of course she can stay." "Less work for the rest of us!"

Elsa had to smile at that last comment. The people of Arendelle were nothing if not practical.

The Foreman said, "Okay then. See you tomorrow, Elsa."

"Thank you. Thank you all." She put her hoe in the wagon and started to walk back to the city with the rest of the workers. Anna would tear strips off her when she heard about this tonight.

* * *

It was summer, a year had passed since Elsa's disastrous coronation.

The kingdom had made it through the winter without starvation or any more untimely deaths. The hard work of everyone made up for the crop losses, and the spring planting was growing so well that it was clear that Arendelle was past any crisis. It would be an abundant harvest.

There was gossip that there would be a wedding in the castle soon. The Queen had been seeing quite a lot of her Ice Master and Deliverer, Kristoff. Everyone knew he had been the one to guide the Queen on her quest to find her sister during the Great Winter. They had stayed friends, and became more than friends, it seemed. Everyone approved, Kristoff was well known and was spoken of as a potential guild master, when the ice harvesters got around to organizing a new guild. Elsa was looking forward to being the Maid of Honor.

And Elsa was accepted by the people again. The story of her work in the fields, and similar efforts during the winter to get the kingdom through the crisis had spread throughout Arendelle. She had fallen ill late in the winter season from overwork. The doctors had been concerned that she had worked so hard, and refused to eat even the allowed rations that she didn't have the strength to recover. Anna personally nursed her and fed her every day to build up her strength. It was touch and go but finally Elsa's fever broke and she woke up one evening while Anna was spooning a thick broth into her mouth.

"Anna?" Elsa's whisper was so weak it broke Anna's heart.

"Yes, honey, I'm here. You need to finish this broth, come on, work with me here."

Elsa looked at the bowl and said, "Too much, won't take special … special treatment."

Exasperated, Anna said, "It's not special treatment. You're getting exactly the same treatment any other damn invalid in this kingdom is getting!" She placed the bowl and spoon on Elsa's nightstand and cradled her sister's cheeks in her hands and caressed them with her thumbs. "You idiot! If you think that I'm going to watch you commit some kind of … of … slow-motion suicide and not put a stop to it, you are even more delusional than usual!"

The guilty look on Elsa's face told Anna all she needed to know.

"It's all I deserve," Elsa whispered. Tears leaked from under her closed eyelids and she slumped further into her pillows, exhausted from speaking even those few sentences.

That was the last straw. Anna kicked off her shoes and crawled under the blankets with her sister, pulling her into a comfortable embrace and cradling her so Elsa could hear Anna's heartbeat.

"Elsa, Elsa, Elsa. You deserve life, you deserve happiness, you deserve all the things that Papa's stubborn foolishness stole from you for thirteen years! And I deserve YOU! How dare you try to take you away from me again?" She kissed Elsa's hair and told her how much she loved her until she knew Elsa had fallen asleep again.

When word of Elsa's condition had spread to the town, Anna had been touched to see the messages flowing into the castle supporting Elsa and wishing her a speedy recovery. She read every one to Elsa, even on days her poor sister stayed deeply unconscious in a healing slumber. Eventually, all the loving care that she was getting from Anna, the faithful servants who took care of her every day, and, yes, the letters from the people she had wronged, finally broke through Elsa's guilt and let her accept that she was loved, she deserved that love, and that she needed to love herself. From that day on, she recovered her health rapidly and went back to work as Anna's right hand.

Elsa felt comfortable going out in public now, with Anna or on her own, doing whatever Anna needed her to do. Elsa knew that there were still people out there who hated her and might try to kill her, but she could only accept that and live her life without fear. Fear was an enemy that she had finally vanquished. She refused to hide from what she had done. She would be working to make up for it for the rest of her life, and that was all she could do.

She even felt comfortable using her magic. The children in particular loved to see her make snowflakes and little ice figurines. Olaf was a fun playmate and he would normally be with Elsa, especially if Anna was too busy to join them.

Elsa was still nervous today, though. Anna had thought up the idea to have a celebration of the Great Thaw, and had it all planned out. Elsa had agreed to it, but …

The courtyard was full of people, waiting for the party to start. Anna came up to Elsa and took her hands and said, "It's time, honey. Time for you to put on a show!"

Elsa nodded, then stepped forward and looked around at all the people waiting expectantly. _"You can do this, Elsa!"_

She raised her voice and called out, "Are you ready?" When everyone nodded or clapped, she raised her skirt a bit and stamped her foot on the ground. Ice formed and spread, turning the courtyard into a skating rink! She gestured at the two fountains and froze them into delicate ice sculptures. Another gesture, and the castle itself was adorned with more icy filigrees and arches.

Finally, she threw a snowball into the air, where it burst and let snow fall onto the crowd.

Exhilarated, Elsa watched as people began to skate, cavorting and performing fancy maneuvers. She saw Kai twirl his wife and then swing her in a graceful move.

Anna slid up to Elsa and almost fell before Elsa caught her. "Hey, Elsa, you did great!"

Smirking, Elsa gestured toward Anna's feet and created a set of ice skate blades on her boots. "I'm not finished."

"Oh, Elsa, they're beautiful! But you know I don't skate!"

"Now you do! Come on!"

Elsa took her sister by the hands and twirled her around the courtyard, with help from Olaf who instructed Anna to "glide and pivot".

Kristoff's shout of "Reindeer coming through!" helped them avoid a slip-sliding Sven with Kristoff draped over his back.

She glanced up at the tallest tower of the castle and saw the snowflake she had created there twinkle in the evening twilight.

She smiled. She had never imagined that she could be this happy.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And so we come to the same happy ending as the movie, although with a short detour crawling through hell on broken glass to get there.

I hope you enjoyed this much better conclusion to the story than the despair of chapter 1. Although I still consider chapter 1 some of my best writing, I still ship happy Elsa, and am so grateful for Olofa finding me a way out of the swamp!

No beta for chapter 3 and 4, all mistakes are mine, mine, mine.

Reviews are love, please feel free! Which reminds me, shout out to ptahaegyptus2 for reviews that awe me with their depth and insight! Thanks, buddy.

p.s. go read his stuff, it's good.


	5. Kristoff's Tale

_**Ice was his life. He wished he had gotten to know Anna's sister better before she was … gone.**_

This is what Kristoff saw when Elsa let herself be executed. And afterwards. This is the happiest ending I could come up with for chapter 1.

Please read chapter 1, (or don't if you already have and don't need to weep any more.) and then read this chapter.

* * *

Kristoff was uncomfortable with people and with feelings. But he felt a connection to Anna, one he really couldn't explain. He had met her on her crazy quest to find her sister during a howling blizzard; he had been there on the fjord when Anna had saved Elsa from Hans.

And he had been there when another blade had taken Elsa's life. Watched as she walked to meet death with regal dignity; watched as she knelt and laid her neck bare to the guillotine. He clenched his eyes shut when the blade began its descent; **that** he had no desire to watch. He turned away and heard the crowd cheering hysterically as Elsa's head was held up in a macabre display, pushing people aside roughly as he strode out the castle gate and went to drown his feelings at the inn where he had taken a room. After he had puked his guts out in the privy.

He hadn't shared any of that with Anna. She had her own nightmares to deal with, she didn't need the burden of his, as well.

* * *

He was there when Anna buried her sister.

Elsa's grave wasn't near her parents. She had died in disgrace and was buried in a corner of the graveyard that was unconsecrated ground. The only marker was a stone set flat in the ground that read, "Here lies a traitor to Arendelle".

There had only been a few people in attendance. Kai, Gerda, Anna. The Bishop, who had insisted on blessing Elsa before the interment, to Kristoff's surprise and Anna's as well.

The coffin was plain wood, cheap and shoddy. Someone, Gerda probably, had seen to the preparation of Elsa's body, making sure she had been washed and dressed with a high-collared blouse and that her makeup was perfect and her hair arranged properly. It was the last thing Gerda could do for a little girl she had loved almost as much as her own children. And for Anna.

Before the lid was nailed on, he watched Anna slip a small child's doll under Elsa's arm. A doll with red yarn braids. A last kiss on her sister's forehead, and then the sound of hammers closing Elsa away forever. They watched as the coffin was lowered into the grave and the earth shoveled over it. The grave diggers nodded to Anna as they left, the Bishop touched her arm and murmured some platitude. Kai and Gerda hugged her and left her alone in her grief. Alone except for Kristoff.

He wasn't sure how long they were there staring at the mound of dirt covering her sister. It was dark now, so it had been hours. Anna swayed on her feet, light-headed and dizzy. She swooned and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her.

"Anna, are you okay?" He held her in his strong arms and lowered her to sit in the damp grass. She looked up into soft brown eyes under a shock of unruly blond hair. She saw the tears on his cheeks and reached up to touch them.

"I don't think I'll ever be okay again, Kristoff."

* * *

He was there the day they had buried Elsa with all the pomp and honor Arendelle could muster.

It had taken a couple of years.

When Anna had gone through Elsa's papers she found the plans Elsa had written as she laid out what she wanted to accomplish during her reign. The earliest pages were clearly influenced by their father, as the dates indicated Elsa had only been 15. But they were detailed and made a lot of sense, and they would not only add to the prosperity of the kingdom, but help get them through the winter.

The kingdom used those plans to salvage much of the crops damaged by the untimely freeze. Anna made sure everyone knew where they had come from. Once it became clear that Elsa's ideas worked and that there would be no starvation, Anna moved on to the rest of the pages and started implementing the things her sister had written there.

By the third anniversary of the "Great Thaw", Arendelle was more prosperous than it had ever been and there were nations and kingdoms clamoring to become trading partners and implement their own versions of "The Arendelle Experiment". Anna commissioned the University of Arendelle to publish a book with all the details of the plan, with the dedication making it clear that everything in the book was the creation of Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, also known as the Snow Queen.

Anna didn't say anything in her own voice, although she had Kristoff drop a few hints at Guild meetings, and maybe she had Kai suggest a good story or two to one of his friends who published the Arendelle newspaper, and perhaps she had dropped a few coins in the pockets of a couple of bards who regularly sang in the taverns, but she wasn't surprised when at the Royal Council meeting that August of 1843, they presented her with a petition, "Representing the wishes of the people of Arendelle, Your Majesty, if it please you to consider them."

A petition to posthumously pardon Elsa, declare that her reign as Queen should be acknowledged and that she be exhumed and buried with all Royal Honors next to her parents.

Anna graciously granted their petition and decreed it be carried out immediately. She didn't mention that she had written the pardon three years ago, right after she found Elsa's journals.

* * *

Kristoff had been with Anna when Kai came to her to tell her that the new coffin was ready for Elsa. They had exhumed her and brought her to the castle for the preparations. Anna didn't feel brave enough to watch, so she sat with Kristoff in the library waiting …

But when Kai came to the library, he was shaking and could hardly speak.

"Your Majesty, I think … I think you need to come see … your sister."

Kristoff couldn't believe Kai would ask Anna to do that. Three years in the ground, Anna didn't need to see what that did to a human body. Kristoff knew, he had seen it in the mountains.

"Please, Your Majesty, this is … extraordinary, I wouldn't ask this of you, but … " Kai was almost in tears.

Kristoff and Anna followed him to the lowest room in the castle, the one reserved for preparing Royals for burial. They hesitated at the door, then Anna took a deep breath and went in.

Elsa was laying on a pallet, covered by a white sheet pulled up to her chin. She looked as though she was just sleeping, as if she would wake up at any moment.

Anna gasped and ran to her side. "How … how?" Anna whispered. She reached out to touch her sister's forehead, but her hand was shaking so badly she pulled it back.

Kai stepped closer and cleared his throat and said, "There's more, Your Majesty." He reached out and pulled the sheet down slightly. Elsa's neck was unblemished; there was no sign of the cut that the blade would have made.

That was too much for Anna and her knees buckled. Kristoff caught her before she could fall.

"How?" he demanded of Kai. The only response was Kai shaking his head and shrugging.

The Bishop chose that moment to join them. He walked up to Elsa and stretched his hands out as he whispered a prayer. When he finished he turned to Kristoff and Anna and said, "It's a miracle, I believe, Master Kristoff."

Kristoff didn't much believe in miracles but he'd take the Bishop's word for it. Or maybe it was some effect of Elsa's magic? He hugged Anna close and made a mental note to discuss it with Grandpabbie.

Miracle or magic, it meant that instead of in a sealed mahogany casket draped with the flag of Arendelle, Elsa went to her final rest on a bier, dressed in the closest approximation to her ice dress that Anna could get the Dressmaker's Guild to produce. Ten of the guild masters worked on the cape alone. They fought for the privilege.

Elsa's catafalque was placed in the courtyard in front of the castle portico. Anna knew the church was too small. She lay in state for three days, and it seemed as though every man, woman and child in Arendelle filed past to pay their respects. Kristoff heard more than one murmured apology addressed to Elsa from that line, mixed in with many a whispered, "A miracle!" And he saw the tears.

When the funeral procession took her to where her parents' memorials stood, the roadway was lined with mourners, all strewing crocus petals to cover the path for Elsa. When they got to the hillside there was a new stone there, and a freshly dug grave beneath it.

The stone was engraved with the dates of her life, her pitifully short reign and a carving of her snowflake.

And her epitaph: "Elsa of Arendelle, Worthy Queen of Greatness".

It wasn't as good as having Elsa back, but it was the best Anna could do.

* * *

A year later they returned to that hillside, Anna and Kristoff and the new heir to the Crocus Throne.

Anna held the baby and Kristoff had his arms around his precious wife. Anna looked at the stones and at her daughter and said, "Mama, Papa, Elsa – meet your granddaughter, your niece – Crown Princess Elsa Kristanna Idunn."

The baby cooed and reached out a chubby hand to the stones, and she made a snowflake appear. Then another. Kristoff smiled. It appeared Elsa's legacy for his daughter was more than a name.

* * *

 _Okay, I violated a couple of my personal headcanon rules here, what with the miracle of Elsa's preservation. But it's the happiest ending possible here. Hope you liked it._


End file.
